There is a story which, if I could only tell it right, would make you cry. Actually, there are two stories, each of which could do that if told with sufficient detail and passion.

Here’s the funny thing. Very few people will cry for both. Instead, they pick one ... cry for that ... and insist that whatever suffering befalls the characters in the oppos­ing story, they brought it on themselves.

I’m speaking of the trag­edy in Gaza, of the whole attenuated blood-feud between Israelis and Palestinians. Each side has accumulated griev­ances at the hands of the other. Each side argues that they’ve been driven by necessity and that moral responsibility for the suffering of both sides is totally the other’s fault.

I referred to this as a trag­edy. What is a tragedy, after all, but a situation in which we realize that the suffering of people we’ve come to care about is inevitable. Americans are a can-do bunch, and we like to think there’s always a way out, around or through a problem. Surely something can be done. It’s a tragedy when that is no longer true. I have long believed that from a moral perspective, the harm we do is more spiritually disfig­uring than the harms we suffer at the hands of others.

If you can believe that’s true, you will see why there will be no victory for either side. Were Israel driven into the sea ... or were all the lands west of the Jordan River emptied of Pales­tinians and filled with Israeli settlements ... the cost of such a“victory”in human terms – and in spiritual disfigurement – would be unbearable. Such militancy could make mon­sters of us all. It would be too easy to blame all this on bad leader­ship, but to the extent both Palestinians and Israelis are led by people of their own choosing, there is a necessary connection between what’s happening and the popular will on either side.

Even though Israel has its“iron dome”anti-missile defense, there still must be an emotional surge among Gazans every time a smoky contrail streaks into the sky bound for Israel. Since the rockets have no guidance system, one can only assume the intended targets are any Israeli man, woman or child who can be harmed.There is no moral high ground in such a strategy.

Years ago in India, Gandhi demonstrated the power of non-violent resistance, freeing a people far more numerous in a territory far more vast than Palestine. It is a massive failure of the moral imagina­tion that the Palestinian people have not tried it.

Meanwhile, huge crowds around the world gather to protest Israel’s killing of over 1,800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and the render­ing of over 400,000 Gazans homeless. Many nations have condemned the destruction; some have withdrawn ambas­sadors from Israel. Global anti-Semitism was already on the rise. Now Jews are blamed for Israeli actions over which they have no control. Why? Because Israel is seen as a force of military occupation. Israel points out its right to self-defense – and everyone hastens to defend their narra­tive of choice.

“...and again, I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. And behold the tears of the oppressed and they had no one to comfort them. On the side of their oppressors, there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. And I thought those who are already dead are more fortunate than the living ... but better than both is he who has not yet been, and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.”

In 900 BC, these words were written by Solomon, king in Israel. Oh, irony. For all our cleverness, the world is awash in pain. We don’t need any shiny new inventions; the world needs better human beings – and it will be one tragedy after another until we learn how to make them.

Less than a month ago, the Cape was visited by the Arts-Bridge group of young Israeli and Palestinian kids.They were beautiful together, but such efforts are dwarfed by the billions of dollars in arms shipments and the hatreds that drive their use. Peace is a cause, but war is an industry.

As for Gaza, we still have to figure out in practical terms what to do. It’s just that none of the available options will be effective until they’re attempted by better human beings.That’s why it’s a trag­edy.